Details on how to apply to new Agri-Food Immigration Pilot will be available in early 2020, IRCC says
Temporary foreign workers with experience in Canada’s agri-food sector will have a new pathway to Canadian permanent residence starting in early 2020.
The occupations and industries eligible under the pilot include: meat processing
o retail butcher
o industrial butcher
o food processing labourer
• harvesting labourer for year-round mushroom production and greenhouse crop production
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• general farm worker for year-round mushroom production, greenhouse crop production, or livestock raising
• farm supervisor and specialized livestock worker for meat processing, year-round mushroom production, greenhouse crop production or livestock raising.
A maximum of 2,750 principal applicants will be accepted for processing each year under the pilot. With family members, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the pilot could welcome approximately 16,500 new permanent residents to Canada over the course of the pilot’s three-year duration.
“Temporary foreign workers who come to this country and work hard filling permanent jobs should have a fair and reasonable chance to become a Canadian regardless of the job they are filling,” said Rodger Cuzner, Parliamentary Secretary to Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, said in the news release.
The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot follows other recent initiatives by the Government of Canada that aim to help temporary foreign workers transition to permanent residence.
These initiatives include new pathways for caregivers and the dedication of 2,000 additional Provincial Nominee Program spaces to eligible intermediate-skilled temporary foreign workers.
Eligibility requirements
The eligibility requirements for the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot are:
• 12-months of full-time, non-seasonal Canadian work experience in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, in an eligible occupation in processing meat products, raising livestock, or growing mushrooms or greenhouse crops;
• a Canadian Language Benchmark level 4 in English or French;
• the foreign equivalent of a Canadian high school education or greater;
• an indeterminate job offer for full-time, non-seasonal work in Canada, outside of Quebec, at or above the prevailing wage.
